“I wouldn’t say he was happy, obviously,” said Steiner. “I think he has other options as well. I don’t need to know, he doesn’t have to tell me that.

“I just informed him we’d gone the other way. He’s a grown-up, he’s done this a long time, he’s been here before in this position.

“I hope he finds a cockpit and we’ve got him around next year in F1 because he deserves to be here.”

Sainz partnered Hulkenberg for just over one year at Renault, having moved there for the end of the 2017 season.

The Spaniard has since switched to McLaren, where a multi-year deal meant he was free from the uncertainty of this season’s driver market, which he admitted was “really nice”.

“I never felt my career in risk in Formula 1 honestly,” said Sainz. “Every year that I’ve been with an uncertain future, I was pretty much sure that I was going to get the drive because I was negotiating with other teams.

“It’s not nice, I think it’s always better for an athlete to be focused on whatever your job is that weekend and [not] look around in the paddock elsewhere.

“I think the performance is always better as a driver, athlete, if you focus on the race then be focusing on something else.”